August 21, 2016

Back to School Ideas and Resources

Where did the summer go? I ask myself this EVER SINGLE year! It just flew by and lots of fun was had by all. Now it is time to start back to school. Where do you even start? If you are like me, your entire room had to be packed up and put back together every year. I know...it is NOT FUN! The great thing about it, is that every year I would pick a new theme for decoration! My favorite themes were camping and tropical. I will save that for another post. So, your classroom is all set up and your students are coming soon. What next? Here are some engaging, hands-on activities that will get your year started off just right!

First, it is important to start with an All About Me activity! I just love seeing what my students write about themselves. I always have one of these activities on their table when they come in the classroom. I end up using all of them throughout the first couple weeks of school. It is important to show each student how important they are to the classroom community. They make a great back to school or parent night display.

Next, you will want to have first day of school activities. You may want to have one of these on their table as well when they come into your classroom. I like seeing what is on their reading list, hearing about their summer vacations, and at the end of the day I have them draw and write about their first day of school. Your favorite resource will be the Opening New Adventures locker activity. You are going to have so many fun adventures throughout the school year and you want your students, as well as yourself, to have goals. They will write their goals on their locker decorations and place around the room or in their notebooks to remember throughout the school year. Last, it is always nice to have a word search on their desk. The first day of school often has down time if you are collecting papers and helping students put their materials away. Be prepared.

This is an example of a slip I use for our classroom rules. After we discuss what a rule is and rules that we think we should have in our classroom, they write down their own rule for our classroom. We develop our classroom rules as a classroom community. We write our rules on a large paper and display in our classroom. Having your students be a part of the rule making is an important part of your classroom management.

There are so many awesome back to school activities you can do in the first few days. Here are a few more activities that will make your first days run smoothly: Pencils to decorate, Alphabetical Order Word Work, Math Color Sheet, Poem to Welcome Students, and Making Words.

"Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world." - Nelson Mandela

Now you are set and ready to get out there and change the world! Have an awesome first day of school!